Nică is the main character.

He did not like school, but

preferred to catch flies.
John is Nică’s father and he was a worthy and a good
man.
Vasile, the teacher, was a sturdy, handsome young man
who used to advise people to send their children to
school.
Among the school's girls was Smaranda, the priest’s
daughter, a mischievous, high-spirited girl, quick-witted
and so active that she used to put all the boys to shame in
both learning and pranks.
 The author presents Humuleşti village, his native village, a large and
cheerful one. This village had hardworking people, with burly lads and
beautiful girls, with a beautiful church, school, priests and teachers.

One day, the priest brought a new and

long chair to school, which he called: Dapple
Grey. Then the priest established some laws
and said that there should be revision every
Saturday for all the boys and girls, in other
words that every child would be examined
what had been learned during
the week; for each mistake made a stroke should be scored in charcoal on a
slate and eventually every mistake should bring down a blow from St. Nicholas.
Smaranda was the first punished.
 On a Sunday, Nică’s grandfather, David Creangă
came. Hearing about the parents' quarrel about the
boy’s future, he decided to take him to Baleș school,
where his children, Vasile and Gheorghe learned. Nică’s
dad was convinced that it was better to go to school,
and two days later he went to Pipirig.
After a dip in Ozana,
frozen from head to toe, he
reached out to his grandma, a
good, merciful woman out of
the way. Together with Dumitru,
his mother’s youngest brother,
they went to Broșteni at school.
 His grandfather left them to be hosted by Irinuca,
in a shack on the left bank of Bistriţa. They got sick with
scab from Irinuca’s goats which they didn’t get away so
easily. One day, while Irinuca wasn't at home, they
climbed up the hill, rolled a big rock over the house and
her goats and then they ran home. Nică’s mother
waited for him with open arms and on Easter Day, to his
mother's happiness, Nica sang "The Angel Cried" at
church and all people were so amazed.
 Yanko the musician, also
known as Janko the Musician, is
a story written by a Polish
author, Henryk Sienkiewicz. The
story was first published in
1879 and it is one of the most
popular stories in Poland.
 The story is about Yanko, a boy
who was "a poor hand at work" but
was eager for one thing, that is
music.

He used to listen to music every

time he had the chance. He found music in
everything he heard, in nature, from birds and even
from the crowds of people.
 He used to listen near the
public houses to the people who
were dancing and singing until the
voice of the watchman was heard
behind him. He made himself a
fiddle, out of a shingle and some
horsehair, but it sounded very low.
 One day he tried to touch the fiddle he
heard it from a noble manor but he was
captured and flagellated. Three days later he
died next to his mother and his last words were
"Mother, will the Lord God give me a real fiddle
in heaven?"
 Yanko the Musician was a short story
that touched my heart and made me believe
that if you really want to do something, you
will succeed it like Yanko found a way to
make a fiddle.
• Elegant Effendi, murdered miniaturist
• Kara (Black), miniaturist and binder; the main character
• Enishte Effendi, maternal uncle of Black
• Shekure, Enishte's daughter
• Master Osman, head of the Sultan's workshop of miniaturists
• Butterfly, one of three miniaturists suspected for the murders
• Stork, one of three suspect miniaturists. Paints the Tree and the
Dog.
• Olive, one of three suspect miniaturists. Paints Satan and the two
Dervishes.
• Esther, a Jewish peddler, a matchmaker, carries lovers' letters.
 Black's uncle invites Black to return to Istanbul to
help with preparing a secret book for the Sultan. Black's
first assignment is to solve the murder of Elegant, the
gilder for the book.
The other master artists, nicknamed Stork, Olive
and Butterfly are the primary suspects.
Before Black begins his investigation, he longs to
see the face of Shekure, the reason he was banished
twelve years ago because he loved her. Shekure sends
Black a letter that is not truly representative of her
feelings to begin the game of love.
 Shekure is married with a man who never returned
from war. After Elegant's murder, she realizes that she
must get a divorce from her missing husband and remarry
before her father dies.
Hasan threatens Shekure with legal action to
return her to the home he shared with his brother and
her, which Shekure left to escape Hasan's cruelty and
inappropriate advances.
At the coffeehouse, a storyteller uses drawings and
a few details from Olive, Stork and Butterfly to tell tales
based on the drawings in Enishte's book.
 When Enishte is murdered, Shekure hides his
death and instructs Black on obtaining a divorce for
her. Black and Shekure marry later that day. Master
Osman, the Sultan's Head Illuminator, gets involved in
the murder investigation. Black confronts the
murderer with the help of the other two artists
(Butterfly and Stork). Olive admits that he was the
murderer and tried to kill Black but he missed. Then
he runs away and meets Hasan, who cuts his head
because he thinks that he is one of the Black’s allies.
 I really love this novel. It's easy to see why
Pamuk won the Nobel Prize - his writing skills
are great. I saw that this novel is all about
characters; each chapter is narrated by a
different character, not all being humans. And
the relation he made between the objects and the
problems that humanity has nowadays is a
masterpiece. Pure genius.